The following background information may present examples of specific aspects of the prior art (e.g., without limitation, approaches, facts, or common wisdom) that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon.
The following is an example of a specific aspect in the prior art that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon. By way of educational background, another aspect of the prior art generally useful to be aware of is that companies have always tried to receive feedback from consumers. The feedback was analyzed for multiple reasons, including: concern resolution efficacy, providing better future products and services for the consumer; understanding the consumer's needs; verifying product and service quality; and strategizing marketing efforts.
Typically, gathering consumer reviews involved creating a method for gathering the customer feedback, managing good relationships with the consumers, and extracting and interpreting meaningful market research information from the consumers. The means by which these steps were accomplished varied. One method included a review website on which reviews could be posted about people, businesses, products, or services. The review websites gathered reviews from site users or employed professional writers to author reviews on the topic of concern for the site.
Typically, companies utilized a search engine for consumer product reviews, plus a database of reports on consumer products and services, published and updated only online. The companies did not review products and services directly, nor did the review site publish reviews from the consumers. Rather, paid writers reviewed the print and online reviews of products and services, using a set of objective, published ratings criteria. The companies then used this data to address concern resolution.
In view of the foregoing, it is clear that these traditional techniques are not perfect and leave room for more optimal approaches.
Unless otherwise indicated illustrations in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.